Kivi pleads not guilty to murder charges

Twin Lakes suspect could face jail regardless

By Jason Arndt Editor

Nathan Kivi pleaded not guilty to double homicide charges Feb. 1, but he’ll likely get locked up in the state prison system regardless of the outcome of that case because officials have moved to revoke his probation, court documents show.

Kivi, 25, who entered his plea at an arraignment Feb. 1 in Kenosha County Circuit Court, was on extended supervision when he allegedly shot and killed two brothers outside the Beach Bar in Twin Lakes on Nov. 24.

His extended supervision stemmed from burglary convictions starting in 2012, when he was sentenced to two years in the Wisconsin Department of Corrections.

Nathan Kivi

Since then, according to his parole agent, Kivi continually failed to meet conditions of his probation, which was outlined in a Jan. 2 letter addressed to Circuit Court Judge Jodi Meier.

“The offender’s inability to learn from his past criminal behavior and utilize the tools he has gained from previous periods of programming demonstrates his failure to be successful on supervision,” a portion of the document attached to the letter states.

Along with the alleged slayings of Richard and Kenneth Samuel on Nov. 24, the agent said Kivi disobeyed orders to refrain from alcohol and other drugs, avoid bars and taverns and not to possess a firearm.

The agent requested harsh punishment for Kivi.

“The offender has committed the most horrendous act of taking away another’s life, which in turn deserves the harshest response,” the agent wrote in the letter. “The only way the department can respond and achieve its mission of protecting the community is to incarcerate the offender from the rest of society, which justifies revocation.”

Kivi was charged with 16 counts of felony burglary, some of which had sentences withheld.

Kivi, who faces a bond revocation hearing on Feb. 15, reportedly had difficulty adjusting to life outside of prison after his 2013 release.

Many violations
His agent wrote in the report that Kivi has worked 17 different jobs, moved multiple times and failed to meet financial obligations associated with both courts and supervision despite more than 30 face-to-face reminders.

Kivi, who has either quit or gotten fired, worked at his most recent job for five months, his longest.

Additionally, according to the revocation document, Kivi is accused of strangling two different women, including the mother of his child, in Walworth County.

After Kivi received a drunken driving citation in 2015, which violated his drug treatment program, he then committed similar acts against two ex-girlfriends.

In Kenosha County, where he was charged but not convicted of felony strangulation, Kivi was accused of pushing his girlfriend to the ground during an argument after a night at Country Thunder in 2015.

Kivi was ordered to participate in behavioral therapy, including anger management classes.

A year later, he committed a handful of offenses, including battering the mother of his child, which sparked his third violation and probation revocation.

The beating of his ex-girlfriend happened Dec. 10, 2016, when she came to his Town of Bloomfield residence to deliver an item for their child.

Kivi, who was allegedly intoxicated, allegedly called his ex-girlfriend derogatory names, slapped a cellphone out of her hand, spit on her and shoved her onto a bed and choked her.

Kivi still faces the felony strangulation and suffocation charge for allegedly causing injuries to her face, including a swollen eye.

After the woman escaped and returned home, Kivi then verbally threatened her during a phone conversation, and according to the parole documents, he told her he “would not go down without a fight and would go in a blaze of glory and to tell his children.”

Last January, the mother went to police, stating she “finally got the courage to tell the police because things are getting worse,” the revocation document states.

For his violations, Kivi served 44 days in Kenosha County Jail on a probation hold, and charges were later filed in Walworth County for the alleged beating of his ex-girlfriend.

Argument sparked homicide
After Kivi and two friends spent time drinking at Tan Oaks apartment complex on Nov. 24, the three went to the Beach Bar, according to the complaint.

At the Beach Bar, the complaint alleges Kivi became angry, telling investigators a “drunk idiot in the bar started stuff and (Kivi’s friend) got lippy.”

The argument, which moved outside, escalated when someone threw a beer bottle at Kivi’s truck, breaking the back window.

In response, Kivi allegedly fired six shots, four of which struck Richard Samuel and the other two striking Kenneth Samuel, according to the complaint.

Richard Samuel died at the scene despite CPR efforts from a woman who told investigators Kivi was the shooter. Kenneth Samuel died during emergency surgery at Aurora Memorial Hospital of Burlington.

The woman, who knew Kivi since they attended high school together, told police he fled the scene in his pickup truck.

A detective obtained the number of Kivi’s cellphone, which eventually was tracked heading northbound on Interstate 94 near Tomah in Monroe County.

Upon his arrest by the Wisconsin State Patrol, Kivi allegedly admitted to committing the shooting, telling troopers they “had the right person, that he did it and he would cooperate,” the complaint contends.

Later, Kivi was transported to the Twin Lakes Police Department, where he told an investigator, “Hell, yeah, I was pissed off. I was blackout drunk. I didn’t sober up until seven this morning,” the complaint states.